Skoda Atero Concept

Recently, Skoda the Czech Republic-based subsidiary of Volkswagen released a stunning coupe that can lineup side by side with most of the latest coupes in the market without looking any bit odd. The 2-door Coupe is the brainchild of a team of apprentices from the Skoda school. The students started with the 5-door Skoda Rapid Spaceback and 1,700 hours later the result was this eye-catching coupe. After seeing the car, I was taken away and hoped Skoda would consider taking it into production. However, during the debut, the automaker was quick to point out that the Atero concept would not make it to production. The automaker went a step further to clarify that there are no plans for a coupe in the coming days.

The design was chosen among 90 entries in Skoda’s in-house competition by Skoda students. In fact, no individuals in the 26-member group had met each other before the competition. Read along to find out what these young students did:

Skoda Atero Concept Exterior

The students derived their inspiration from the 1984 Rapid coupe which was rear-engined. However, the Skoda Atero Concept only shares its fastback profile with the former. The new fastback profile is accented by a red spoiler which makes the model look very attractive.

If you are an automobile geek, you will notice that the vehicle is somewhat un-proportional. This is because the model is based on a wheelbase of a 5-door hatch. To convert the hatch into the stunning coupe, the students did a lot of wielding. They first had to remove the rear doors and enlarge the front doors to ease entry to the rear seats. The students also relocated the B pillars.

In addition, the students also had to turn the hatch’s tailgate to a deck-lid. Though the students did an excellent job, they had to be assisted by the Skoda’s prototype shop to craft the part of the bodywork where the rear wing and the roof meet. This resulted in slender D pillars which had to be designed in a way to hold the large rear window. All other parts of the car were the hard work of these amazing students… I wish I got such an apprenticeship during my college days.

Typical of youngsters, the students hooked up the model with a dose of attractive lighting patterns. These patterns start with LED inserts on the bonnet vents, LED under-body illumination in addition to LED headlights that glow red and LED taillights. Other features include Black Magic paintwork, a new exhaust system 18-inch alloy wheels.

Skoda Atero Concept Interior

Not much was said of the cabin. However, due to the fact that it is based on a hatchback, the interior is very spacious compared to regular coupes. The students also used multicolor upholstery on the dash and seats while the doors and the center console feature a fabric trim.

The cabin is specifically tuned with young drivers in mind…or we can say the students built an interior to suit their tastes. As such, the cabin looks elegant with a sporty touch. The most striking feature is the 1,800 watts 14-speaker super-loud audio system.

As if that was not enough, the students added attractive LED lights on the boot where the speakers of the sound system are tucked in.

Engine and performance

I must say that I was rather disappointed to learn of the engine the Skoda Atero Concept features under its beautiful hood. Surely, they should have hooked up the Atero with more fire power.

Rather, the model is equipped with a turbocharged 1.4 L, 4-cylinder engine which produces only 125 horses which is sent to the front wheels. Doing the channeling is a dual-clutch automatic transmission system with shift paddles. The automaker did not release details of the engine’s performance which are not all that important since it won’t make it into production.

Release date

As said above, Skoda has confirmed that neither will the model make it to production and nor does it preview an upcoming coupe. However, we understand that the Atero name has been copyrighted meaning we might see this name on a Skoda car in future.